The world's No.1 coach, David Leadbetter, found himself cast in the
unlikely role of spectator as Ernie Els and Gary Player put on an
impromptu bunker clinic during the filming of a video for sponsors
SAP earlier this year at Old Palm Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida.
After a three-hole shoot-out, Ernie and Gary spent a few minutes
sharing their thoughts on bunker play, taking in turns to demonstrate
the skills that have made both men legends in the game. Courtesy of
SAP, Golf International dropped in on their conversation..

KNOW YOUR SAND-IRON
"I think the one main thing you
have to understand is the sand iron
is designed differently to the
other irons in the golf bag. You
have this big area of metal on
the sole of the club – the flange
– and the key on the majority of
these basic green side shots is
that you aim to get the back
edge of the flange entering the
sand first, and not the leading
edge. That just wants to dig
down too deep and stop. The
secret here is that the clubhead
is always moving through the
sand, and you achieve that by
gliding or surfing the flange
through, which is exactly what
it's designed to do. I always aim
to focus on a spot an inch or so
behind the ball. That's where I
want to make contact. There's
always a bit of 'give' in sand, so
don't be afraid to accelerate the
clubhead – like I say, you have
to keep the clubhead moving.
That's the secret. Ernie Els

SMOOTH 'n' EASY
Here, on a regular sand shot,
with a good lie, the clubface
is opened up just a fraction
(this is something you can
and must experiment with),
the ball is in the middle of the
feet, my weight pretty evenly
spread. As I start the club
back, you'll notice there's an
early hint of a wrist action –
that helps me to get a real
feel for the clubhead and sets
my rhythm for the swing. And
all the time I'm focused on
entering the sand an inch
behind the ball

SWING IN HARMONY
The wrists, arms and
shoulders are working
together to create a
connected swing. Note
there's relatively little hip turn
involved – with the feet nicely
grounded, this is basically all
hands, arms and upper body

COMPACT,
CONTROLLED
This is the full extent
of my backswing for typical
green side bunker
shots – it's all you need,
too. A good turn of the
shoulders, with a full
wrist cock, will give you
all the acceleration you
need in the downswing.
My weight remains
even between the feet

ACCELERATION HERE...
The smooth unwinding of
the downswing sees the
clubhead accelerate on its
way to impact – as I mentioned
earlier, the key is that
you keep the clubhead moving
throughout the delivery,
focusing on that entry point
an inch behind the ball

'SLAP' THE SAND
As you practise and improve
your bunker play, you will get
used to hearing the sound of
a good sand shot – a 'fizz' –
as the flange on the club
works as it is designed to do,
surfing through the sand,
taking a shallow divot – and
with it the ball

RELEASE RIGHT HAND
Gary Player is known as the
best bunker player the game
has seen, and, as he tells you
overleaf, you cannot hope to
play these shots stiff-wristed.
You need to cultivate a good
wrist action, both on the way
back and then releasing the
club on the way through. This
crossover of the wrists is a
sign of a natural release that
not only guarantees the clubhead
keeps moving but takes
you on to a balanced finish

ENJOY THE VIEW!
One of the most common
faults I see amateurs
make is to attack
the sand with a short,
stabby swing – and they
usually end up off
balance. But if you learn
to play these shots with
the emphasis on
repeating a smooth
rhythm I guarantee you'll
enjoy watching the
results as you hold a
balanced finish!

Wrist action
gives you the
ability to 'release'

When playing any type of bunker shot, the one
thing you cannot expect to do is achieve a
successful result with wooden or stiff wrists. It
doesn't work. You, know, in many areas of this
game I'm the first to tell you there are generally
no hard and fast rules, everyone is different, but
the one thing you must do here is cock your
wrists so that you are able to release the
clubhead and get it moving through the sand.
We're not playing on grass, we're in sand, which
really stops the club. So work on your wrist-cock
to get that nice bit of acceleration.

Hit a little harder
up the slope to
make the desired
distance

Practise these shots long enough and you'll
discover it's hard to hit that 30- or 40 yard shot
with a sand-iron. So why not experiment with
other clubs? In a tournament I might use an 8- or
9-iron, depending on the lie and how I see the
shot to the pin. I simply go down the shaft and
play the shot as you see above. Try it and you'll
discover you can play a longer bunker shot more
easily. By focusing on entering the sand a
consistent distance behind the ball – just an inch
or so – and develop that wrist action to
accelerate the club up the slope. – Gary Player

Body and slope in tune

Here on the up slope, there's
no need to add loft to the
clubface – the up slope
automatically does that for
you. So, take a settled,
comfortable stance, with your
body angled to match the
slope. You don't want your
weight leaning against the
slope – the trick is to get your
body tuned to the gradient,
as you see here

USE YOUR WRISTS
This essential wrist-cock
on the way back gets the
clubhead swinging up (look
at that angle between my left
arm and the clubshaft!) and
also helps you to feel the
rhythm as you get the
clubhead swinging

RELEASE UP THE SLOPE
Remember, the effect of the
up slope is to make the ball fly
higher, so you have to make
sure you hit these shots a little
harder than you would to
achieve the same distance
from a level lie. The way you
set up to the ball in the first
place helps you to play up
the slope, and not straight
into it

The down slope

This is a tough situation, no doubt
about it. Watch here how I play this
shot right off the back foot – that's how
you make the necessary contact with
the sand on a downhill lie. The ball is
going to come out low and run like
crazy, so you have to adjust your
expectation levels. (Don't try to hit a
high shot from here – you'll only end
up scooping it.)

You know, sometimes
in this game you have to accept the
fact that you've hit a poor shot to end
up in this position, and you have to
play for your bogey. Don't try and force
the issue. On the up slope (sequence
above) the ball will always come out
high – and that's a shot you can still
get close to the pin if you adjust the
speed into the sand; on this down slope
it's going to come out low. And
from here a good result is getting the
ball out and somewhere on the green,
albeit past the hole. As I say,
sometimes you have to take your
bogey and move on. Gary Player

ADJUST YOUR SET-UP –
AND YOUR EXPECTATION
Look how far I'm gripping
down the shaft here – that's a
good tip when you find
yourself in the back of a
bunker and need to avoid the
back lip as you get your
swing started. And this is not
a shot you can expect to get
close – getting the ball out is
a good result from this lie

CHOP & RELEASE
In this situation, the key
is to chop down sharply
into the sand and keep
the clubhead moving on
through, down the
slope (again, look at the
release of the right
hand), to what will be a
relatively short finish.
The the ball will come
out low and without any
spin, so it's going to run
on the green